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{{short description|Druze and Muslim attack on the Jews of Safed (1838)}}
{{pov-title|date=April 2012}}
The '''1838 Safed pogrom''' began on July 5, 1838 during the ] against the rule of ]. Rebels descended on the Jewish quarter of ] and, in scenes reminiscent of the ] four years earlier, spent three days attacking Jews, plundering their homes and desecrating their synagogues.<ref name="Lieber1992">{{cite book|author=Sherman Lieber|title=Mystics and missionaries: the Jews in Palestine, 1799-1840|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mrltAAAAMAAJ|year=1992|publisher=University of Utah Press|isbn=978-0-87480-391-4|page=334|quote=The Druze and local Muslims vandalised the Jewish quarter. During three days they enacted a replay of the 1834 plunder, looting homes and desecrating synagogues — but no deaths were reported. What could not be stolen was smashed and burned. Jews caught outdoors were robbed and beaten.}}</ref><ref name="Finkelstein1960">{{cite book|author=Louis Finkelstein|title=The Jews: their history, culture, and religion|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=838GAQAAIAAJ|year=1960|publisher=Harper|page=679|quote=In the summer of 1838 the Druses revolted against Ibrahim Pasha, and once more the Jews were the scapegoat. The Moslems joined the Druses in repeating the slaughter and plunder of 1834.}}</ref><ref name="Florence2004">{{cite book|author=Ronald Florence|title=Blood libel: the Damascus affair of 1840|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=bJDLrLlWg18C&pg=PA47|date=18 October 2004|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-299-20280-4|page=47|quote=There had been pogroms against the Jews in Safed in 1834 and 1838.}}</ref> Some Jews ended up leaving the town, moving south to Jerusalem.<ref>Emile Marmorstein (1975). ''Middle Eastern Studies'' '''II''': "European Jews in Muslim Palestine". pg. 77.</ref> Among them was ], whose printing press had been destroyed a second time by the ruffians.<ref name="Ta-Shma1975">{{cite book|author=Israel M. Ta-Shma|title=The Hebrew book: an historical survey|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=qYXgAAAAMAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Keter Pub. House Jerusalem|isbn=978-0-7065-1389-9|page=151|quote=After the Safed earthquake in 1837 and the Druze revolt in 1838, during which his farm was despoiled and his printing press again destroyed, he moved to Jerusalem.}}</ref> The '''1838 Druze attack on Safed''' began on July 5, 1838, during the ] against the rule of ]. Tensions had mounted as the Druze captured an Egyptian garrison outside of ].<ref name=rossoff>Rossoff, David. ''Safed: the mystical city''. p.162-165.</ref> The local Safed militia of several hundred was heavily outnumbered by the ], and the city was gripped in despair as the militia eventually abandoned the city and the Druze rebels entered the city on July 5.<ref name=schur>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZ8LAAAAIAAJ&q=%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%9C+%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%A7%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%91|title=תולדות צפת|first=Nathan|last=Schur|date=October 31, 1983|publisher=עם עובד|isbn=9789650100971 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The Druze rebels and a Muslim mob descended on the Jewish quarter of ] and, in scenes reminiscent of the ] four years earlier, spent three days attacking Jews, plundering their homes and desecrating their synagogues.<ref name="Lieber1992">{{cite book|author=Sherman Lieber|title=Mystics and missionaries: the Jews in Palestine, 1799-1840|url=https://archive.org/details/mysticsmissionar0000lieb|url-access=registration|year=1992|publisher=University of Utah Press|isbn=978-0-87480-391-4|page=|quote=The Druze and local Muslims vandalised the Jewish quarter. During three days, though they enacted a replay of the 1834 plunder, looting homes and desecrating synagogues — but no deaths were reported. What could not be stolen was smashed and burned. Jews caught outdoors were robbed and beaten.}}</ref><ref name="Finkelstein1960">{{cite book|author=Louis Finkelstein|title=The Jews: their history, culture, and religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=838GAQAAIAAJ|year=1960|publisher=Harper|page=679|quote=In the summer of 1838 the Druses revolted against Ibrahim Pasha, and once more the Jews were the scapegoat. The Moslems joined the Druses in repeating the slaughter and plunder of 1834.}}</ref><ref name="Florence2004">{{cite book|author=Ronald Florence|title=Blood libel: the Damascus affair of 1840|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJDLrLlWg18C&pg=PA47|date=18 October 2004|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-299-20280-4|page=47|quote=There had been pogroms against the Jews in Safed in 1834 and 1838.}}</ref> Besides religious and sectarian tensions, the Jewish community in Safed was seen as being favorable toward Ibrahim Pasha and the Egyptian Eyalet. Some Jews ended up leaving the town, moving south to Jerusalem and Acre.<ref>Emile Marmorstein (1975). ''Middle Eastern Studies'' '''II''': "European Jews in Muslim Palestine". pg. 77.</ref> Among them was ], whose printing press had been destroyed a second time.<ref name="Ta-Shma1975">{{cite book|author=Israel M. Ta-Shma|title=The Hebrew book: an historical survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qYXgAAAAMAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Keter Pub. House Jerusalem|isbn=978-0-7065-1389-9|page=151|quote=After the Safed earthquake in 1837 and the Druze revolt in 1838, during which his farm was despoiled and his printing press again destroyed, he moved to Jerusalem.}}</ref>


==Prelude== ==Prelude==
{{Yishuv haYashan}} {{Yishuv haYashan}}
By the 19th-century, Safed had long been inhabited by Jews. It had become a ] centre during the 16th-century and by the 1830s there were around 4,000 Jews living there, comprising at least half the population.<ref name="Maʻoz1975">{{cite book|author=Moshe Maʻoz|title=Studies on Palestine during the Ottoman period|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=apYJAQAAIAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Magnes Press|page=67|quote=Up to 1837 the population of Safed showed an increase. A considerable number of sources report a population of 7000-8000, with half, or even more than half, being Jews.}}</ref> The Jews of Safed had been subjected to a ] in 1834 during the ]: Over 5,000 rebels had launched a revolt protesting against legislation imposed by the new Egyptian rulers and some had used the uprising as an opportunity to attack the Jews. After some months, the Egyptians managed to regain control of the county and the Jews of Safed began to rehabilitate themselves. Not long after, Safed was again the scene of devastation when in 1837 a strong ] resulted in thousands of deaths and the destruction of many buildings.<ref name ="Ambraseys">"" by N. N. Ambraseys, in Annali di Geofisica, Aug. 1997, p.933,</ref> The northern, Jewish section of the town was almost entirely destroyed.<ref name ="Ambraseys"/> By 1838, the tense relationship between the '']'' and the Egyptian overlords was again mounting<ref>''One a day: an anthology of Jewish historical anniversaries'', p. 168, Abraham P. Bloch - 1987 </ref> and a full-scale ] erupted in January. In summer of 1838, the Druze captured a heavily outnumbered Egyptian garrisson outside ].<ref name=rossoff>Rossoff, David. ''Safed: the mystical city''. p.162-165.</ref> By the 19th-century, the Galilean city of ] comprised a major Jewish center. It had become a ] centre during the 16th-century, reaching a size of about 15,000 at its peak. Despite the decline through the 17th and 18th centuries, by the 1830s there were still around 3,500-4,000 Jews living there, comprising at least half the population.<ref name="Maʻoz1975">{{cite book|author=Moshe Maʻoz|title=Studies on Palestine during the Ottoman period|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=apYJAQAAIAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Magnes Press|page=67|isbn=9789652235893 |quote=Up to 1837 the population of Safed showed an increase. A considerable number of sources report a population of 7000-8000, with half, or even more than half, being Jews.}}</ref> The Jews of Safed had been subjected to a ] in 1834 during the Peasants' Revolt: Over 5,000 Arab peasant rebels had launched a revolt protesting against legislation imposed by the new Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali. Some rebels used this uprising as an opportunity to target the Jewish community, who were generally perceived to be aligned toward Egyptian rule.
After several months, the Egyptians managed to crush the rebellion and regain control of the county and the Jews of Safed began to rehabilitate themselves. Not long after, Safed was again the scene of devastation when in 1837 a strong ] resulted in thousands of deaths and the destruction of many buildings.<ref name ="Ambraseys">" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231257/http://www.earth-prints.org/bitstream/2122/1595/1/09%20ambraseys.pdf |date=3 March 2016 }}" by N. N. Ambraseys, in Annali di Geofisica, Aug. 1997, p.933,</ref> The northern, Jewish section of the town was almost entirely destroyed.<ref name ="Ambraseys"/> By 1838, the tense relationship between the '']'' and the Egyptian overlords was again mounting<ref>''One a day: an anthology of Jewish historical anniversaries'', p. 168, Abraham P. Bloch - 1987 </ref> and a full-scale ] erupted in January. In summer of 1838, the Druze captured a heavily outnumbered Egyptian garrison outside ].<ref name="rossoff"/>


==The attack== ==The attack==
The Jewish population relied on the protection of the Arab governor against the Druze. Dr. Elizer Loewe wrote in his diary:<ref name=rossoff/> The Jewish population relied on the protection of an Arab governor against the Druze. Dr. Elizer Loewe wrote in his diary:<ref name=rossoff/>
:''We huddled together in Rebbe Avraham Dov's house... The women were hysterical and the children crying. The Rebbe asked me to write a note in Arabic to the mayor, pleading with him not to forsake us in this desperate time. I did so, but his answer was mere lip service.'' :''We huddled together in Rebbe Avraham Dov's house... The women were hysterical and the children crying. The Rebbe asked me to write a note in Arabic to the mayor, pleading with him not to forsake us in this desperate time. I did so, but his answer was mere lip service.''


According to Loewe, the mayor and his militia fled the city, and the Jews became ''Open prey for the ravenous rebels''. The Druze rebels were joined by Muslim mob and they looted the Jewish quarters, as the ] rebels thought the Jews possessed hidden treasures and local Muslims encouraged them to attack. The plunder lasted for 3 days.<ref name=schur></ref> According to Loewe, the mayor and his militia fled the city, and the Jews became ''Open prey for the ravenous rebels''. The Druze rebels were joined by Muslim mob and they looted the Jewish quarters, as the ] rebels thought the Jews possessed hidden treasures and local Muslims encouraged them to attack. The plunder lasted for 3 days.<ref name="schur"/>


During the course of the attack, some Jews were assisted by friendly Arabs.<ref name="Zureik1979">{{cite book|author=Elia Zureik|title=The Palestinians in Israel: a study in internal colonialism|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Sc8OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA32|year=1979|publisher=Routledge & K. Paul|isbn=978-0-7100-0016-3|page=32|quote=For example, during the Safed insurrection in 1838, in which Druze rebels rose against Turkish rule, and - in the course of the uprising - attacked Jews of Safed and even extorted money from them, it was another Palestinian Arab who came to their rescue.}}</ref> One Arab by the name of Muhammed Mustafa, had helped protect them, lending them money and providing them with food and clothing.<ref>Emile Marmorstein (1975). ''Middle Eastern Studies'' '''II''': "European Jews in Muslim Palestine". pg. 78.</ref> This time, Ibrahim Pasha's response was more swift,<ref name="CohenCarp1986">{{cite book|author1=Richard I. Cohen|author2=Judith Carp|title=The return to the land of Israel|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=d8JtAAAAMAAJ|year=1986|publisher=World Zionist Organization|isbn=978-965-227-035-1|page=32|quote=As the Jews in Safed were in the process of rehabilitation, they encountered a Druze rebellion (1838) against the Egyptian rule. Druze entered Safed and began maliciously to demand of the Jews all their earthly possessions. Fortunately, Ibrahim Pasha's army was this time successful in removing the threat and forcing the Druze to return...}}</ref> and after a few days things returned to normal. During the course of the attack, some Jews were assisted by friendly Arabs.<ref name="Zureik1979">{{cite book|author=Elia Zureik|title=The Palestinians in Israel: a study in internal colonialism|url=https://archive.org/details/palestiniansinis0000zure|url-access=registration|year=1979|publisher=Routledge & K. Paul|isbn=978-0-7100-0016-3|page=|quote=For example, during the Safed insurrection in 1838, in which Druze rebels rose against Turkish rule, and - in the course of the uprising - attacked Jews of Safed and even extorted money from them, it was another Palestinian Arab who came to their rescue.}}</ref> One Arab by the name of Muhammed Mustafa, had helped protect them, lending them money and providing them with food and clothing.<ref>Emile Marmorstein (1975). ''Middle Eastern Studies'' '''II''': "European Jews in Muslim Palestine". pg. 78.</ref> This time, Ibrahim Pasha's response was more swift,<ref name="CohenCarp1986">{{cite book|author1=Richard I. Cohen|author2=Judith Carp|title=The return to the land of Israel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d8JtAAAAMAAJ|year=1986|publisher=World Zionist Organization|isbn=978-965-227-035-1|page=32|quote=As the Jews in Safed were in the process of rehabilitation, they encountered a Druze rebellion (1838) against the Egyptian rule. Druze entered Safed and began maliciously to demand of the Jews all their earthly possessions. Fortunately, Ibrahim Pasha's army was this time successful in removing the threat and forcing the Druze to return...}}</ref> and after a few days things returned to normal.


==See also== ==See also==
* ] * ]
* ] * ]


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist|2}} {{Reflist|2}}
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Latest revision as of 19:28, 24 August 2024

Druze and Muslim attack on the Jews of Safed (1838)

The 1838 Druze attack on Safed began on July 5, 1838, during the Druze revolt against the rule of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt. Tensions had mounted as the Druze captured an Egyptian garrison outside of Safed. The local Safed militia of several hundred was heavily outnumbered by the Druze, and the city was gripped in despair as the militia eventually abandoned the city and the Druze rebels entered the city on July 5. The Druze rebels and a Muslim mob descended on the Jewish quarter of Safed and, in scenes reminiscent of the Safed plunder four years earlier, spent three days attacking Jews, plundering their homes and desecrating their synagogues. Besides religious and sectarian tensions, the Jewish community in Safed was seen as being favorable toward Ibrahim Pasha and the Egyptian Eyalet. Some Jews ended up leaving the town, moving south to Jerusalem and Acre. Among them was Yisrael Bak, whose printing press had been destroyed a second time.

Prelude

Old Yishuv
A sepia photograph shows three elderly Jewish men sporting beards and holding open books, posing for the camera. Against a backdrop of leafy vegetation, the man in the centre sits, wearing a black hat and caftan, while the two others stand, wearing lighter clothes and turbans.Jewish community in the Land of Israel under Ottoman rule
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By the 19th-century, the Galilean city of Safed comprised a major Jewish center. It had become a kabbalistic centre during the 16th-century, reaching a size of about 15,000 at its peak. Despite the decline through the 17th and 18th centuries, by the 1830s there were still around 3,500-4,000 Jews living there, comprising at least half the population. The Jews of Safed had been subjected to a prolonged attack in 1834 during the Peasants' Revolt: Over 5,000 Arab peasant rebels had launched a revolt protesting against legislation imposed by the new Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali. Some rebels used this uprising as an opportunity to target the Jewish community, who were generally perceived to be aligned toward Egyptian rule.

After several months, the Egyptians managed to crush the rebellion and regain control of the county and the Jews of Safed began to rehabilitate themselves. Not long after, Safed was again the scene of devastation when in 1837 a strong earthquake resulted in thousands of deaths and the destruction of many buildings. The northern, Jewish section of the town was almost entirely destroyed. By 1838, the tense relationship between the fellahin and the Egyptian overlords was again mounting and a full-scale Druze revolt erupted in January. In summer of 1838, the Druze captured a heavily outnumbered Egyptian garrison outside Safed.

The attack

The Jewish population relied on the protection of an Arab governor against the Druze. Dr. Elizer Loewe wrote in his diary:

We huddled together in Rebbe Avraham Dov's house... The women were hysterical and the children crying. The Rebbe asked me to write a note in Arabic to the mayor, pleading with him not to forsake us in this desperate time. I did so, but his answer was mere lip service.

According to Loewe, the mayor and his militia fled the city, and the Jews became Open prey for the ravenous rebels. The Druze rebels were joined by Muslim mob and they looted the Jewish quarters, as the Druze rebels thought the Jews possessed hidden treasures and local Muslims encouraged them to attack. The plunder lasted for 3 days.

During the course of the attack, some Jews were assisted by friendly Arabs. One Arab by the name of Muhammed Mustafa, had helped protect them, lending them money and providing them with food and clothing. This time, Ibrahim Pasha's response was more swift, and after a few days things returned to normal.

See also

References

  1. ^ Rossoff, David. Safed: the mystical city. p.162-165.
  2. ^ Schur, Nathan (October 31, 1983). תולדות צפת. עם עובד. ISBN 9789650100971 – via Google Books.
  3. Sherman Lieber (1992). Mystics and missionaries: the Jews in Palestine, 1799-1840. University of Utah Press. p. 334. ISBN 978-0-87480-391-4. The Druze and local Muslims vandalised the Jewish quarter. During three days, though they enacted a replay of the 1834 plunder, looting homes and desecrating synagogues — but no deaths were reported. What could not be stolen was smashed and burned. Jews caught outdoors were robbed and beaten.
  4. Louis Finkelstein (1960). The Jews: their history, culture, and religion. Harper. p. 679. In the summer of 1838 the Druses revolted against Ibrahim Pasha, and once more the Jews were the scapegoat. The Moslems joined the Druses in repeating the slaughter and plunder of 1834.
  5. Ronald Florence (18 October 2004). Blood libel: the Damascus affair of 1840. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-299-20280-4. There had been pogroms against the Jews in Safed in 1834 and 1838.
  6. Emile Marmorstein (1975). Middle Eastern Studies II: "European Jews in Muslim Palestine". pg. 77.
  7. Israel M. Ta-Shma (1975). The Hebrew book: an historical survey. Keter Pub. House Jerusalem. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-7065-1389-9. After the Safed earthquake in 1837 and the Druze revolt in 1838, during which his farm was despoiled and his printing press again destroyed, he moved to Jerusalem.
  8. Moshe Maʻoz (1975). Studies on Palestine during the Ottoman period. Magnes Press. p. 67. ISBN 9789652235893. Up to 1837 the population of Safed showed an increase. A considerable number of sources report a population of 7000-8000, with half, or even more than half, being Jews.
  9. ^ "The earthquake of 1 January 1837 in Southern Lebanon and Northern Israel Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine" by N. N. Ambraseys, in Annali di Geofisica, Aug. 1997, p.933,
  10. One a day: an anthology of Jewish historical anniversaries, p. 168, Abraham P. Bloch - 1987
  11. Elia Zureik (1979). The Palestinians in Israel: a study in internal colonialism. Routledge & K. Paul. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-7100-0016-3. For example, during the Safed insurrection in 1838, in which Druze rebels rose against Turkish rule, and - in the course of the uprising - attacked Jews of Safed and even extorted money from them, it was another Palestinian Arab who came to their rescue.
  12. Emile Marmorstein (1975). Middle Eastern Studies II: "European Jews in Muslim Palestine". pg. 78.
  13. Richard I. Cohen; Judith Carp (1986). The return to the land of Israel. World Zionist Organization. p. 32. ISBN 978-965-227-035-1. As the Jews in Safed were in the process of rehabilitation, they encountered a Druze rebellion (1838) against the Egyptian rule. Druze entered Safed and began maliciously to demand of the Jews all their earthly possessions. Fortunately, Ibrahim Pasha's army was this time successful in removing the threat and forcing the Druze to return...
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